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30 Plus GOP Lawmakers Urge Trump to Concede Election; GOP Senator Tillis Wins Reelection in North Carolina; Georgia Secretary of State Rebukes Senators That Call for Him to Resign; Key Battleground States Still Counting Votes; Key Justices Signal Support of Affordable Care Act. Aired 3:30-4p ET
Aired November 10, 2020 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:30:00]
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: Thirty-one former Republican lawmakers are calling on President Trump to concede the election, writing this joint statement about the threat that his ongoing allegations pose to our democracy. They write in part, quote --
We believe the statements by President Trump alleging fraud in the election are efforts to undermine the legitimacy of the election and are unacceptable. Every vote should be counted and the final outcome accepted by the participants because public confidence in the outcome of our elections is bedrock of our democracy.
And with me now one of those Republicans who signed that letter, former New York Representative, Susan Molinari. Congresswoman Molinari, a pleasure, welcome.
SUSAN MOLINARI (R) FORMER HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE, NEW YORK: Thank you so much it's great to be with you, Brooke.
BALDWIN: So why did you sign the letter?
MOLINARI: Look, and I think you read the most important part. First of all, the President has been warned that this was going to be an election that's going to be rigged, right. As early as August he said, the only way I'm going to lose is if this election is rigged. There wasn't even a ballot out yet, and he was already trying to set the stage. He continues to say throughout the election that this is going to be rigged. If I lose this, will be rigged.
Now we have all these lawsuits, a ton of which have been thrown out, no confirmation of any irregular ballots and confirmation by some leaders of Republicans in all these states and yet he continues to push, and push to a lot of people in these United States, that this is an illegitimate election.
Now I just saw the Vice President and the President-elect, you know, really sort of downplay it and say we/re moving ahead and this isn't going to stop us. Our concern when we wrote this letter though is that, just to your point, the fundamental, bedrock of our democracy is that people accept the results of an election. And when the President of the United States and the State Department, and the AG, the Attorney General, when they all get involved and say, let's just wait and see.
[15:35:00]
Again, allegations that have not been confirmed in any way, shape or form, in any of the five states that we're seeing he lost to.
BALDWIN: Correct, yet you have all of these Republicans who maybe are saying one thing behind the scenes but would not agree with you certainly out loud who are currently in office. You know, for example, you have the two special election runoffs in Georgia that will determine the control of the U.S. Senate, and so understandably, Republicans they don't want to do anything to take away from the support that they're getting from their conservative base.
So if you have, you know, Republican Senator X coming forward and suggesting that Trump should accept these results, that could lead to Trump rage tweeting which could lead to supporters turning against the party at this critical time, Congresswoman.
MOLINARI: Well, that's exactly right, and I think that is what's happening. I think that's probably what was behind Senator McConnell's, Leader McConnell's statement, such as they were over the last two days. But so this really all lays at the feet of the President of the United States right now.
Again, you know, that President-elect talked about his legacy, the best thing this President's legacy can be is to let these other Republican elected officials go, you know, have a peaceful transition and accept the election results.
It is for the basis of the future of these United States and at a time when we are experiencing highest COVID cases that we've had since this pandemic hit. We cannot afford to be divided anymore, and all this President continues to do by playing this out up until the 11th hour, is to continue to divide us.
BALDWIN: Have you sent any notes, Congressman Molinari, have you sent any notes? Have you back channeled with any Republicans on The Hill, like, stand up?
MOLINARI: We've talked to a bunch and even in trying to get -- it's interesting, even when we were putting together the list of Republicans for Biden, and then Republicans to sign this list, almost everyone said, I'm with you but I can't get out there. And so --
BALDWIN: And to that you say what?
MOLINARI: You know, look, I'm not in office anymore, and so we just have to live with our own conscience. You know, I'm totally at peace in having worked for someone with the qualities of dignity and character of President-elect Joe Biden, and I'm perfectly at peace right now saying out loud that I think what the President of the United States is doing is undermining our democracy. BALDWIN: The key phrase there and just final thought is, you know, you
are not in office. And so, everyone has a conscience, right, but you feel free to speak aloud just about how you're feeling and for all the news that we've been hearing from Mitch McConnell and Bill Barr and now Mike Pompeo saying, almost like jokingly, well, we're ready for a smooth transition with a second Trump administration. Just quickly like what do you think it'll take? Is it going to take Biden getting an Inauguration Day?
MOLINARI: Hopefully, it won't, hopefully, that they will be a certain point. But I have to say, look, there are elected officials and people who have to go back and they have to serve their constituency. A lot of them supported Donald Trump. You also have people like the Attorney General and Secretary of Defense who are totally out of place in getting involved in such a political, political arena. It just increases how disturbed I am by this administration.
BALDWIN: Secretary of State, because the Secretary of Defense got fired yesterday. I know what you were thinking. Congresswoman Susan Molinari, it's been a long last week. I appreciate you and thank you so much.
MOLINARI: Thanks so much, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Thank you.
Coming up here next on CNN, the votes still being counted in Georgia where tensions between Republicans are flaring. The magic wall is next.
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BALDWIN: Breaking news out of North Carolina where Republican Senator Thom Tillis has won re-election defeating Democratic Challenger Cal Cunningham.
Cal Cunningham just released a statement conceding the race, saying this, I just called Senator Tillis to congratulate him on winning reelection to a second term in the U.S. Senate. And wished him and his family the best in their continued service in the months and years ahead. Cunningham added, quote, the voters have spoken and I respect their decision.
Let's talk Georgia now. A close race there has Republicans in the state attacking their own. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican is flatly rejecting calls to resign by members of his own party. You have Senators David Perdue, and Kelly Loeffler, they are demanding he step down over his handling of the election. They want to fight results that show them both facing fierce runoffs in January and President Trump currently losing in the reliably red state.
With me, the one and only political director here at CNN, David Chalian. And so David, where do things stand? DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, take a look at those
Georgia Senate races, first of all just to remind folks, David Perdue got 49.7 percent of the vote in last week's election to Jon Ossoff's 47.9 percent. Because David Perdue didn't get above 50 percent, that's why there's a runoff there.
And then in the other race, Raphael Warnock, the Democrat actually emerged on top with 32.9 percent of the vote because Kelly Loeffler and Doug Collins were splitting a lot of the Republican conservative vote, Senator Loeffler edged out Collins so she goes into the runoff with Warnock, and control of the Senate hangs in the balance -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: We know that because of Georgia, we'll look for that early January. Let's talk Pennsylvania, the state that put Joe Biden over the top for that electoral victory that we all watched, you all, this weekend. They are still counting the votes. How is Pennsylvania shaping up?
CHALIAN: So take look at where things stand in Pennsylvania right now.
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Joe Biden has a pretty healthy lead, 47,246 votes ahead of Donald Trump, 49.7 percent to 49.0 percent. So above that .5 percent margin that could be a trigger for an automatic recount. And just to compare to 2016, Donald Trump won by the state by 44,292 votes. Joe Biden's lead is currently larger than that.
BALDWIN: There are still a few states that haven't been decided, David, what happens if Joe Biden takes both Arizona and Georgia?
CHALIAN: Well, in Arizona, where he is leading right now, you see that his lead has been shrinking. Donald Trump has been making up ground as the votes come in . Joe Biden expects he can hang on to that 14,733 vote lead. Donald Trump wanting to make sure there all the votes keep getting counted because he's been diminishing that Biden lead.
And in Georgia, 12,651 votes is where Biden is ahead of Trump, 49.5 percent to 49.2 percent. That is within the .5 percent margin that allows a candidate to ask for a recount, and the Trump campaign has indicated it will clearly do that after the state certifies the vote there. So I think, this is going to recount. I've never seen a recount, Brooke, that overturns a lead of 12,651 votes, but that may be where it's headed.
If you add in Arizona and Georgia into Joe Biden's electoral pot, he's at 306 electoral votes. Pretty substantial victory. In fact, 306 electoral votes is where Donald Trump ended up in 2016 four years ago. He called that a pretty substantial victory back then.
BALDWIN: How about that? David Chalian at the magic wall. David, thank you very much.
CHALIAN: Thank you. BALDWIN: Coming up next, several key Justices today signaling that the Affordable Care Act could survive the Republican attempt to dismantle it.
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BALDWIN: The future of Obamacare is once again on the line once again. The U.S. Supreme Court today heard arguments on whether to invalidate the Affordable Care Act and effectively take away health care away for millions of Americans during a pandemic. But today at least a few conservative Justices signaled their opposition to striking down the law, entirely. Just because the individual mandate no longer comes with a penalty.
Chief Justice John Roberts suggested today that that provision may be severable from the rest of the law.
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CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS, SUPREME COURT: General Hawkins, on the severance question, I think it's hard for you to argue that Congress intended the entire act to fall if the mandate were struck down when the same Congress that lowered the penalty to zero did not even try to repeal the rest of the act. I think, frankly, that they wanted the court to do that, but that's not our job.
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BALDWIN: CNN Supreme Court Reporter, Ariane de Vogue, is with me now. And Ariane, what do you make of what we heard this morning?
ARIANE DE VOGUE, CNN SUPREME COURT REPORTER: Brooke, what you just played was really key because that John Roberts saying, look, even if one provision gets struck down like the individual mandated or another, the entire sprawling 900-page law will not be struck down, he said. And critically, Justice Brett Kavanaugh seemed to also agree with him.
And let me take you back just a little bit, just so we can see why that was so important. Because, remember, it was back in 2012 and it was Roberts who upheld the law under the taxing power but then five years later, Congress moved in and they brought that tax down to zero.
So long time critics, Republicans and the Trump administration, they rushed to court and they said, look, you just got rid of the legal underpinning of the law. We think the entire thing should fall. That would mean provisions that protect people with preexisting conditions, that expand Medicaid and it really seemed like Roberts and Kavanaugh and probably the liberals on the court and maybe more didn't seem to be going in that direction today -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: Well, I go it, it's huge, huge here on day one. Quickly, the newest Justice on the Court, Amy Coney Barrett, what did she contribute today? DE VOGUE: Right. Well, she did speak up. And she also looked at
Congress's intent back in 2017 because none of us read headlines that Congress had just struck down the Affordable Care Act, so she kind of looked at that and questioned whether that had been the intent way back there. That suggests that maybe she is with Roberts and Kavanaugh but, you know, it's really hard to tell how a case will come out after oral arguments. And Brooke, this one could be weeks, if not months away, from a decision.
BALDWIN: Ariane, thank you in Washington for us.
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We want to get you back to breaking news this afternoon. President- elect Joe Biden slamming President Trump for refusing to accept defeat and calling it, a quote, an embarrassment. While insisting the transition is well under way. That's next.
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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.
And we begin with breaking news today. President-elect Joe Biden this afternoon, says outgoing President Trump's refusal to concede the election is, quote, an embarrassment. Biden assured Americans that he is moving with the transition with or without President Trump's help.
